


swimming in a lightning storm

by LadyMerlin



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Best Friends, Confessions, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mentions of medical conditions, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Omega Oikawa Tooru, Pining Oikawa Tooru, Sexual Politics, Social Issues, Stereotypes, Volleyball Dorks in Love, accidental misgendering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 21:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14411250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMerlin/pseuds/LadyMerlin
Summary: He’s not expecting to go into heat; not yet, at least.His time is technically still a couple of months away. That’s why it takes three uncomfortable trips to the bathroom and a steadily increasing uneasiness in his lower belly for Oikawa to figure out what’s going on. It definitely does not have anything to do with Ushiwaka pounding on his cubicle door in the gym shower room, asking if he knows that he’s in heat. No siree, Oikawa figures it out all on his own.





	swimming in a lightning storm

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : I wasn't able to find tags that adequately described this, so: basically the A/B/O universe comes with the usual warnings about gender politics and the problems that arise from stereotyping and the enforcement of rigid gender roles. In the beginning, Oikawa goes into pre-heat and is genuinely afraid that he is going to be assaulted by an Alpha. This turns out to be a huge misunderstanding, but the implication is that such things do happen. There are also some issues about there being a lack of general and medical information about Omega health - which is a real issue faced by marginalised groups in real life. This may be triggering but the story overall is supposed to be lighthearted - there are no medical/consent issues at all. 
> 
> tl;dr: YMMV, and be kind to yourself.

He’s not expecting to go into heat; not _yet_ , at least.

His time is technically still a couple of months away. That’s why it takes three uncomfortable trips to the bathroom and a steadily growing uneasiness in his lower belly for Oikawa to figure out what’s going on. It definitely does not have anything to do with Ushiwaka pounding on his cubicle door in the gym shower room, asking if he knows that he’s in heat. No siree, Oikawa figures it out all on his own.

His first reaction isn’t to shriek like a little girl. It _isn’t_.

His first reaction is to send a furious (desperate) text message to Iwaizumi asking for a rescue because no way is he leaving the safety of his cubicle with a psychotic Alpha like Ushiwaka standing outside. Not a chance in hell.

Ushijima knocks again and Oikawa does not yelp. He’s not terrified because it doesn’t sound like Ushijima is going to break the door down, _really_.

“I can hear you panicking in there, Oikawa. Do not panic. It serves no purpose. Be calm. I will let you alone but I have some 24 hour hormone suppressants, which I will slide below the door. They are still sealed and I have not tampered with them. I don’t know how well they will work, considering how close you are to your heat, but they will tide you over enough to get home.”

Oikawa is so stunned that for a second he can’t even find the words to thank the other boy for the totally unexpected gesture.

“Where did you get these?” He blurts out when he hears Ushijima’s footsteps leading towards the door.

The footsteps pause and Oikawa hears the foot-against-tile grind of someone turning around.

“They’re mine,” Ushijima replies, sounding a little confused.

Which – why would Ushiwaka have hormone suppressants unless – “You’re an _Omega_?!” Oikawa demands, shocked out of any semblance of politeness.

“I am as I have always been, Oikawa. I did not expect bigotry from you, especially since you are an Omega yourself.” Ushijima sounds more disapproving than he’s ever sounded before, infinitely more than the times he’s told Oikawa he ought to have gone to Shiratorizawa.

Oikawa opens the door and steps out of the cubicle before Ushijima can turn to leave again, shaking his head. “It’s not bigotry, Ushiwaka-chan. I just thought you were an Alpha.”

Ushijima blinks but doesn’t protest the nickname. “Everyone knows I’m an Omega. I had to take medical leave from certain matches because I was in heat, wasn’t it obvious?”

Oikawa shakes his head. “No, Ushiwaka-chan, it’s not. I thought you skipped that last match because I wasn’t worth your time. I’m pretty sure that’s the word on the street anyway, that you just don’t bother going for matches where you won’t be challenged, or your team could win without you.”

Ushijima looks downright stern. “That’s disrespectful to your teammates and your sport, if your team has to go and you refuse to. Why would anyone do that?”

Oikawa shrugs, bends down and picks up the pill. “You don’t even smell like an Omega.”

“I take the suppressors regularly. It’s less of a distraction.” Ushijima looks considering, and a little confused beneath it.

“I’m sorry for assuming,” Oikawa says, because he’s an ass but he knows when he’s crossed a line. Being thought of as an Alpha all the time had driven him up a wall, because of the implication that an Omega could never be as good as Oikawa. He couldn’t even imagine what it was like for Ushijima, who has no outward Omega-characteristics to speak of. It must have been much worse.

“It is okay,” Ushijima says in that stilted, overly-formal way of his, just as Iwaizumi barrels into the bathroom with Makki and Mattsun at his back, yelling at the top of his voice.

Oikawa regards them fondly, all shouting at Ushijima even though he towers over each one of them and weighs about as much as Makki and Mattsun put together. Ushijima just looks confused.

“Is it a secret?” Oikawa asks, cutting off the yelling. Ushijima turns to him and raises an eyebrow. “The thing,” he repeats eloquently. “Is it a secret?”

Ushijima shakes his head. “I thought everyone knew.”

“Are you okay?!” Iwaizumi interrupts, fists up, ready to attack.

“I’m fine, Iwa-chan. Turns out that Ushiwaka-chan here is an Omega too.”

Iwaizumi’s fists out of the air, and behind him Makki and Mattsun straighten, taking a respectful step back. “What?” Iwaizumi asks, looking stunned.

“I know right?!” Oikawa turns on his sunniest smile - the one which Iwaizumi can smell as bullshit from a mile away. “I’m shocked too! Apparently that’s why he couldn’t come to that match a month ago.”

Ushijima looks on stoically, but Oikawa is beginning to realise that maybe the bigger man just isn’t that socially adept. Maybe the stern look is his default, like a resting bitch face, or a more terrifying version of it.

“Does your team know?” Iwaizumi asks Ushijima, who nods solemnly. “Shit, how did we not figure this out?”

“Suppressors,” Oikawa says, waving the little blister packet in the air.

“Huh,” Iwaizumi says again, sounding a little stunned.

“Well, in that case I don’t need a rescue Iwa-chan, I’m going to spend some time with my new friend!”

Ushijima shakes his head even as Iwaizumi starts spluttering in outrage. “I do not think that is a good idea, Oikawa, especially with you so close to heat. Take the suppressors and go home with your mate.”

It’s Oikawa’s turn to splutter in shock even as Iwaizumi snorts and Makki and Mattsun burst out laughing, the worst possible audience for his humiliation. “I don’t have a mate!” Oikawa yells, pretending his cheeks aren’t heating up from the embarrassment.

Ushijima looks confused and then looks at Iwaizumi, who abruptly stops grinning. Ushijima points at Iwaizumi, just to make it absolutely clear. “I thought he’s your mate. You always smell like each other.”

Makki and Mattsun’s laughter becomes even louder and Makki falls sideways because he’s gasping so hard, catching himself on Mattsun’s shaking shoulder.

Iwaizumi is looking at Oikawa with horror in his eyes, and Oikawa can’t pretend it doesn’t hurt. Iwaizumi clasps a hand over his nose and Oikawa reacts instantly, reeling his hormones back in.

“Oh shit,” Iwaizumi mumbles, as Ushijima shakes his head again.

“Take the pill, Oikawa. Go home. I accept your offer to socialise in the future. I will obtain your phone number from one of your teammates.”

Oikawa stares blankly as Ushijima exits the shower room, trailed by Makki and Mattsun who have apparently discovered their next source of entertainment.

“Let’s get you home,” Iwaizumi says, and Oikawa doesn’t think about how Iwaizumi had been his first call, even though he’s an Alpha too. He doesn’t think about how Iwaizumi has sat outside his bedroom door for days on end, just because his scent soothes Oikawa during his heats. It’s because they’re friends. Best friends. Iwaizumi doesn’t like him like that.

One day Iwaizumi will find an Omega he likes; someone he wants to have babies with, and spend the rest of his life with. Then Oikawa will have to handle himself alone, and he’ll have to get used to it. Which is why, for the moment, he’s going to enjoy what he can.

He slings an arm over Iwaizumi’s shoulder and lets his weight sag. Iwaizumi’s hands come up around his waist to support him. “Get me home, please? If Ushiwaka could smell me...”

Iwaizumi doesn’t say a word but gets him home, safely. Oikawa honestly never had a doubt.

-

Oikawa doesn’t bother asking around for Ushijima’s phone number, because three days after his heat ends he receives a text message from an unknown number, asking if he wants to have a coffee at a café near Shiratorizawa, so that he could have a tour of the campus at the same time.

No one else would dare to say that to Oikawa except Ushijima.

Oikawa rearranges for their coffee thing to happen at a café in central Sendai city - neutral ground and certainly easier to reach than Shiratorizawa. Ushijima accepts with a grace that tells Oikawa he hadn’t seriously expected him to agree in the first place, which meant that he’d been... teasing? The thought of Ushijima having a sense of humour is enough to send shivers down his spine, so he disregards it quickly.

“I’m having coffee with Ushiwaka-chan,” Oikawa announces at practice the next day. “I’ll be leaving practice early this Friday afternoon.”

Everyone turns to stare, and Makki barely dodges a misfired volleyball from the other side of the court.

“Ushijima?” Yahaba asks, incredulous. “Your sworn enemy from Shiratorizawa?”

Oikawa nods and smiles sunnily. “That’s the one.”

Yahaba frowns for a beat, and then nods. “I’ll arrange for core strength training for the team while you’re gone.” This is why Yahaba is going to be Captain next year. “Bring back the enemy’s tactics, Oikawa-senpai.”

Oikawa blinks and then laughs. “No, Yahaba-kun, I’m meeting him on friendly terms, but still, I’ll do what I can.”

“You’re meeting an Alpha on friendly terms? Is it a date?” Kyoutani butts-in, sounding horrified. Oikawa wonders if it’s because the kid has a crush on him, or because he’s an Omega himself and the thought of dating an Alpha as big as Ushijima is enough to scare even the Mad Dog.

Oikawa shakes his head. “Ushiwaka-chan is an Omega, my darling kouhai. There’s been a terrible case of mistaken identity. You can go ahead and share that with all of your little friends from other schools.”

The juniors ignore him with the ease of long practice, but he knows they’ll do what he asks. It’s a horrible thought - he can’t imagine what it would have been like if everyone thought of him as a big hulking idiot of an Alpha. He’ll do what he can to help, all for the low low price of the opportunity to speak with another red-blooded Omega (Kyoutani doesn’t count. He’d sooner spill Oikawa’s red blood than talk about Alphas and birth control and stuff.) Sometimes Oikawa hates being the only Omega amongst his friends. It’s more than a little lonely.

Iwaizumi doesn’t say anything, but the weight of his regard is heavy on Oikawa’s back. He’s not sure if his best friend approves or not, but he’s not going to turn around to confirm it either way. There are some things he doesn’t need to know.

-

“Why did you think Iwa-chan was my mate?” He asks, not bothering with greetings and other pleasantries. The housewife sitting at the next table looks scandalised but interested all the same.

Ushijima just blinks and sits down across Oikawa. “It is nice to see you too, Oikawa. I am well, thank you for asking, how are you?”

“Oh, be quiet,” Oikawa flaps a hand. “You sound like you’ve memorised a book on human interaction and you don’t know any other conversational tracks.” But he’s not really annoyed, and neither is Ushijima. He can tell.

Ushijima shakes his head and accepts a cup of coffee from Oikawa, doctoring it liberally with milk and sugar. Ugh, another reason to hate Ushiwaka - he shares the same tastes as Oikawa.

“I said before, it’s the smell.”

“What smell?!” Oikawa demands. “I don’t smell anything!”

“You smell like each other,” Ushijima repeats calmly, unaffected by Oikawa’s shriek even though at least three other Alphas in the café turn towards the scent of Omega-in-distress. Then they spot who he’s sitting with and ostensibly think better of approaching.

“He’s my best friend!” Oikawa protests, because he is. Iwaizumi is his first and his best friend, and unfortunately, to him, Oikawa is nothing more.

“Yes, and I mistakenly thought he was your mate. Surely you’re not offended by this, Oikawa. Why is it such a big deal?” Ushijima’s placid tone makes Oikawa want to punch him.

“What about you?” He asks, changing the subject as smoothly as a turbulent plane.

“What about me,” Ushijima repeats, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Who’s your mate?” He asks, hissing the question in an undertone, because the biddy beside them is definitely eavesdropping.

“I don’t have one. I believe one of my teammates may begin courting me soon, but to date I have no partner.” Ushijima doesn’t seem the least bit concerned by this and it makes so Oikawa so angry that he’s not the least bit concerned about something that’s bothered Oikawa for so long.

“And don’t you think you’re too Alpha to be loved by an Alpha? What if you end up alone?” Oikawa demands, hating the words he’s saying even as they bubble out of his mouth. But he had to. He has to know.

“You’re not talking about me,” Ushijima says a moment later, after Oikawa realises how his words could have been taken. He’s an asshole but not like that, he doesn’t think.

“No, sorry Ushiwaka-chan, I’m not. I’m talking about me. Iwa-chan has never treated me like I’m an Omega and I always liked that about him. But I sometimes see him with other Omegas and I wonder. Maybe he’d prefer someone who’d depend on him to support them, instead of trying to do it alone. Maybe he’d like to be that person for his partner and I’ve tried but I couldn’t - I can’t.”

“You shouldn’t change yourself to attract a mate, Oikawa. You know it won’t work in the long run.”

“I know, but what else can I do? He’s the only one I’ve ever considered like that.”

“He looks at you differently, if that helps.” Oikawa looks up from his half-empty cup of coffee.

“What do you mean?”

“I, along with everyone in this circuit, have noticed how close the two of you are. You have a wonderful synchrony on the court. But I have also noticed the two of you off the court. You called him when you thought you were about to be attacked. You do rely on him. And he looks at you like he wants to protect you.”

Oikawa doesn’t think about that bathroom. He doesn’t think about how Iwaizumi is the only person with whom he feels completely safe.

“He wants to protect everyone. He’d have come bursting in if it had been me threatening you, just the same.”

Ushijima studies him. “In that case he is a good man, and a good Alpha, but no less in love with you.”

The words are heavy, hitting Oikawa with all the impact of anvils from the sky. “Shit. Do you really think so?”

“It scarcely matters what I think, only what you think. You are in love with him.” Ushijima’s words are as blunt and unforgiving as always, but something about the way he says it makes everything sound more real.

“I am,” Oikawa admits, and it’s the first time he’s ever said the words aloud.

“Then it is enough.”

-

“How was your date with Ushijima?” Makki asks, teasingly.

Oikawa hums distractedly and doesn’t reply. Makki glances at Mattsun, and they’re both worried that Oikawa didn’t even deny it being a date.

Behind them, Iwaizumi is watching Oikawa like he can’t quite believe his eyes or ears, like the person he’s seeing isn’t the person he’s known for so many damn years of his life, like Oikawa is suddenly something new. It’s a miracle Oikawa hasn’t noticed Iwaizumi staring at him like that.

While the potential for entertainment is high, so is the risk of disaster. This does not bode well for anyone.

-

The next time Oikawa goes into heat, just a couple of months later, it is (again) totally unexpected.

A healthy Omega is supposed to go into heat approximately once every fifteen months, which is just fine by Oikawa. The thought of having to suffer through the agony of a heat any more frequently than that is enough to make him plan his own messy death.

Which is why, when the cramping and the wetness kicked in half-way through regionals, his first instinct was to pretend it wasn’t happening, because if he pretended, he didn’t have to think about it, and that meant the problem as good as didn’t exist.

That plan goes down the toilet when Ushijima strides across the court towards him, brandishing a blister pack of suppressors in his face. “You’re irregular,” he declares. At least thirty people around them – presumably consisting of those who hadn’t yet been informed that Ushijima was also an Omega – stagger in shock at the implied intimacy of Ushijima knowing Oikawa’s heat cycles.

Oikawa would have thrown something at Ushijima if Iwaizumi hadn’t interrupted and snatched the spiked shoe out of his hands.

“Is he right?” Iwaizumi asks when Ushijima is gone, and Oikawa can’t bring himself to lie, not to Iwaizumi. He doesn’t say anything at all. “Okay, you’re not playing in this game.”

Oikawa crosses his arms and glares at Iwaizumi mulishly. “Don’t forget who’s captain here, Iwaizumi.” It’s possibly the first time in memory he’s called Iwaizumi by his full name instead of the affectionate. Oikawa doesn’t like it.

“I won’t, but don’t forget what happens when people play on the court with an Omega in heat.” Iwaizumi’s tone is even, but his eyes look hurt – he doesn’t like it either.

And the worst part is that he’s right. People go crazy when playing with – or against – Omegas in heat. There had even been an Olympic Ice Hockey game where one of the players had unexpectedly gone into heat half-way through, and it’d taken days to clear the blood off the ice. Admittedly Hockey is a more violent contact-sport than volleyball but that didn’t make it any less dangerous. He doesn’t know what he’d do if someone – one of his teammates and friends – got hurt because of overzealous, hormone addled players. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

“You could watch the game, still,” Iwaizumi offers but Oikawa doesn’t turn or reply. He’ll watch from somewhere above. It might hurt less than getting benched like this. No one has to know. He’ll visit the doctor later.

He needs a solution for the irregular heats; this can’t go on.

-

Thankfully one of the medics brought in for the games works in an Omega clinic not too far from the stadium. He agrees to take Oikawa for a check-up after the final match is played that night. Iwaizumi finds Oikawa waiting for the medic to pick him up near the front of the stadium. The rest of the team has long since retired.

“We won,” Iwaizumi says in greeting. Oikawa doesn’t reply because it would mean admitting that he’d been watching the matches too. He feels like crap, and it isn’t just because of his aching muscles and his damp underwear, isn’t just because of his cramping belly and his swollen knees. He feels like crap because Iwaizumi had been right to send him away, and instead of admitting it with grace he’d upset his best friend right before a game.

“I know you’re upset with me,” Iwaizumi starts, but Oikawa cuts him off.

“I’m not.” He turns to look at Iwaizumi, who blinks in surprise. “I’m not upset or angry with you, Iwa-chan. I promise. You were right. I’m angry with myself. I don’t want this to happen to me. This game – Volleyball is everything to me. You know it is. I don’t know what I’d do if my biology takes it away from me.”

“It won’t,” Iwaizumi says, slipping his hand into Oikawa’s, squeezing their fingers and palms together. “You’ll be okay, Oikawa. Maybe these things just happen once in a while. Better an extra heat once in a while than losing your head every time you scent even a little bit of hormone like an Alpha.”

“You don’t,” Oikawa said, accepting the comfort where it is offered but not entirely. “It’s just me. I have stupid heats and I lose my head every other day, Iwa-chan. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t me.”

Maybe then Iwaizumi would like him back, if he were a little bit different; nicer, or more normal. Maybe these irregular heats are just another reason for Iwaizumi to not want him – and why would he? When he could have someone totally healthy and normal.

“Don’t say that!” Iwaizumi’s voice is louder than expected, making Oikawa flinch a little bit. “Don’t say that, Tooru,” and his voice is more gentle. “I wouldn’t swap you for anyone else in the world.”

Oikawa laughs but it’s a sad one. That won’t last. It can’t.

-

The doctor they consult says there is nothing wrong with Oikawa, and that sometimes hormones just play up for no reason, and that he should start carrying around suppressant pills and thinking about a long term birth control plan to keep his cycle in check.

It makes Oikawa want to scream because he knows what those meds will do to him. Weight loss or gain, extra hair growth or hair loss, and changes in pitch of voice are all normal side effects of birth control pills, though there’s no way of knowing in which combination they’ll come. Not for the first time he wishes he could just rip his uterus out so that it would stop bothering him. Maybe it would get rid of all the urges and the feelings too, which could never be reciprocated. He hates being an Omega.

He goes home that night instead of staying with the team. He knows he’s safe with them, that they wouldn’t dare to touch him improperly, but he’s tired. He wants to hole himself up in his room and not come out for a while. He doesn’t want to deal with these problems.

“I’ll come over when we get home, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi promises.

“You don’t have to,” Oikawa mumbles, because what good would it do anyway?

“Don’t be stupid Oikawa. I’ll come see you.” It isn’t worth fighting, not when Oikawa wants to see him too. He doesn’t reply.

-

“We made it to regionals,” is the first thing Iwaizumi says when Oikawa opens the door three days later. Iwaizumi wrinkles his nose at the sight of him, but he doesn’t say anything. Oikawa isn’t surprised. He knows he looks like crap. His own hormones and the pills have been wreaking merry havoc on his system, but at least he feels more normal than he had a couple of days before.

“I heard,” he replies, opening the door wider to let Iwaizumi in.

“Have you already had your heat?” Iwaizumi asks, which is a terribly invasive question but one which comes from a place of concern.

Oikawa shakes his head. “I’ve started taking birth control. It’s supposed to put me back on my regular cycle. My family doctor did a bunch of tests on me and they all show that I’m perfectly fine, except for elevated hormones in my blood.”

He doesn’t mention the bit about how that’s apparently normal for an Omega spending a lot of time around its mate, or one which is ready for breeding and nesting. Oikawa hadn’t been able to hide his horror, and Iwaizumi needs to know exactly none of it.

“Are you feeling any better?” Iwaizumi asks, and Oikawa nods, because he is. “Good. That’s good.”

There’s a beat of totally unusual awkward silence before Oikawa asks if Iwaizumi wants to play a video game or something, but it’s enough. Oikawa knows that’s the sound of their easy friendship coming to an end.

Maybe everyone was right when they said Omegas and Alphas couldn’t just be friends.

-

The birth control pills definitely make him put on weight, especially around his hips and thighs, but Oikawa has always been slightly underweight so it’s weight he can afford to have.

He keeps putting off buying new shorts until his old ones are bursting at the seams, mainly because he doesn’t want to admit that his dimensions have increased by at least one dress size. His uniform pants are a little tighter but not so much that he can justify buying new pairs. He ignores the stares he gets in corridors sometimes, because sometimes he just doesn’t want to think about what people are seeing when they look at him.

Aside from that, things carry on in more or less the same line. The pills make his hair thicker and shinier, but he ends up growing fine fuzz behind his knees where he never used to, before. His skin takes a turn for the worse before rebounding to an even healthier version of itself, but becomes so delicate that itchy synthetic clothes are immediately banned from his wardrobe. Pros and cons.

On one hand, there are no more surprise heats, and his ability to play is unimpeded. On the other hand, although Iwaizumi hasn’t yet withdrawn from him completely, there are more and more awkward silences between them. Oikawa is still trying to figure out if this is a new normal he can live with, if it means he can keep his Best Friend. It has to be.

-

Of course, because he never can have anything good for long, things come to a head during their next practice match with Shiratorizawa.

Since their coffee meeting (it wasn’t a date, ew), he’s been texting Ushijima on and off. They’ll never be best friends or anything but their passion for Volleyball is a common thread that connects them, and he’ll never admit it but it’s nice to have an omega friend who literally couldn’t care less that Oikawa’s eyebags exceed the check-in limit on most flights, and that his hormones sometime make him crazy and possessive and irrational. Sometimes, he says, because sometimes he can be all those things on his own without the hormones, and it’s not fair to blame them all the time when Ushijima’s hormones do no such thing. Ushijima is never hurt by him.

Ushijima has a bone dry sense of humour which it took Oikawa some time to realise was even humour, and not some weird sort of formality or obtuseness. No, Ushijima is actually laughing at everyone all the time in his head, because he’s a smug fucker. The last text he’d sent Oikawa before they’d seen each other at that match was a reminder that he should have gone to Shiratorizawa, and at least then he wouldn’t have had to worry about losing matches. Oikawa had only barely resisted the urge to throw his phone out the window, and contented himself with sending back a middle-finger emoji.

Ushijima is also weirdly calm in the face of a lot of really stressful things. Dating? He doesn’t sweat it. He’ll be fine even if nothing works out. Volleyball – he takes it seriously, but he’s not going to kill himself over it. Losing a match once in a while doesn’t send _Ushijima_ into anxiety fuelled panic spirals at three in the morning. University? The fucker receives early admission offers from every university Oikawa has even dreamed of attending, and then he offers to help Oikawa with his admission essays.

He’s not a bad friend to have, surprisingly, which is why Oikawa doesn’t think twice about returning Ushijima’s wave from across the court, much to the shock of their teammates. Whispers break out across the crowd of their schoolmates, because Oikawa had forgotten that not everyone knows about their friendship.

He rolls his eyes and Ushijima rolls his eyes back, but they don’t comment on it. There’s no point fanning the flames. They have a game to play.

It seems like that’s going to be the end of it until Oikawa is in the shower room later that evening, alone because he’d spent an extra forty minutes discussing tactics with the coaches and everyone else had already bathed and eaten dinner by the time he was done. He is alone in a stall and just about to step out when one of Ushijima’s teammates - the psychic blocker, No. 5 – strides in, lips in an unhappy twist.

“Oikawa, I know you’re scum but this is low, even for you.” Oikawa blinks, because the words are venomous but they’re said in the most neutral tone imaginable, and he still has no clue what the other man is talking about. Jersey No. 5 has crazy blocks, and that’s about all Oikawa remembers about him. He can’t think what he might have done to offend the guy.

“Sorry?” He asks, wondering how he can get his clothes or at least a towel before the confrontation happens, because clearly there’s some sort of confrontation happening here. He just hasn’t figured out what it is, yet.

“You should be. How dare you play with Wakatoshi’s feelings!” No. 5’s voice cracks with feeling, and Oikawa is abruptly, seriously worried.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but is he okay?”

No. 5’s hand clenches into a fist and he snarls. “You don’t have the right to ask that question! Wakatoshi is very good at discerning Omega scents but not so much with Alpha scents. He deserves an Alpha who’s at least attracted to him! Why would you lead him on like this!”

Oikawa doesn’t know which part of that to deny first, but, “I’m not leading him on!! I’m not attracted to him, _ew_ , what?!”

No. 5 makes an inarticulate sound of rage and steps towards Oikawa, who takes an instinctive step back. “Wakatoshi is my best friend, you asshole. I’m going to make sure he ends up with someone who is good to him, who actually sees him as an Omega instead of some monstrous Alpha.”

“But he’s not an Alpha?” Oikawa ventures, choking a little on the dominance hormones No. 5 is exuding. His hand flies to cover his nose because it’s that, or he’s going to drop to his knees, and he really doesn’t want that to happen.

A confused look comes across No. 5’s face just as someone - Iwaizumi - comes charging into the shower room and shoves him, hard. Oikawa yelps and No. 5 lands hard on the tile, snarling. Iwaizumi looks intently into Oikawa’s face, fingers wrapped around Oikawa’s wrist. “Are you okay Tooru?” Iwaizumi’s presence is so overwhelming and so welcomed that he can’t even find the words for how grateful he is; he just nods.

Iwaizumi keeps looking at him for another beat, and his big brown eyes are so wonderfully expressive but Oikawa can’t read a thing they’re saying. Love, and affection, maybe. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking. He doesn’t have enough time to analyse it before Iwaizumi is gone, turning to face No. 5.

“And you!” he yells. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Stepping in before my best friend’s heart gets broken,” No. 5 snarls, but then a realisation dawns on his face. “You’re not an Alpha, are you?” It’s not even a question but Oikawa shakes his head. “And you’re not dating Wakatoshi.” Oikawa shakes his head again, because really? _Ew_.

“Well shit,” No. 5 says and Iwaizumi snarls at him. He snarls back, which is just ridiculous, there’s clearly nothing even to be fighting about.

“Okay, can we maybe calm down? And get me some clothes, please?” Oikawa asks, and both Alphas suddenly seem to remember that they’re standing in a shower room with a naked Omega. This is how most B-grade pornos start, and all the hair on the back of Oikawa’s neck is standing.

Iwaizumi makes a bee-line towards Oikawa’s shower pack - Oikawa guesses he can smell it - and fishes out a towel and clean clothes.

“You should really mark your Omega better, you know?” No. 5 comments, still sitting on the ground. His menacing aura is all but gone, and he could have been mistaken for a beta if Oikawa hadn’t smelled his overwhelming dominance just minutes before.

“I’m _not_ his Omega,” Oikawa says just as Iwaizumi bites, “He’s not _my_ Omega,” and passes the clothes to Oikawa, standing between him and No. 5 again, turning his back to give him privacy. Oikawa has never been so relieved to see his own damn boxers before and gets dressed in record time.

“Yeah, he is. I can see it.”

“You might be good at blocking,” Oikawa says, “but you’re not good at seeing everything. I know for a fact that there are things you’re missing.” Because it makes sense that this is the teammate Ushijima is waiting on. There’s no accounting for taste, but a blind man could have seen the devotion on No. 5’s face.

“Yeah, like what?” No. 5 asks, but it’s not a challenge as much as it is a plea.

“It’s not for me to say. But I can tell you that Ushiwaka isn’t going to be happy to hear you cornered and threatened another Omega in a shower stall.”

No. 5 goes pale and scrambles to his feet. “ _Shit_ ,” he spits again, with emphasis. And then he’s gone, out of the room without even a trace of scent left behind. Oikawa feels the tension drain from his shoulders, his knees going slightly weak.

“I’m never going to a bathroom alone, ever again Iwa-chan.” He’s trembling a little and the knowledge that he hadn’t actually been in any danger doesn’t seem to have any effect on the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Iwaizumi is silent for a beat, and then he turns to look at Oikawa again. His fingers twitch like he wants to reach out, but isn’t letting himself. “Would it be so wrong?” He asks. “Or so bad?”

“What?” It’s a question out of the blue and Oikawa honestly has no idea what Iwaizumi is talking about.

“Would it be so bad to be my Omega? I mean, I know you don’t love me like that but you’re my best friend, Tooru. I want to be there for you in everything in life. I never want you to be alone.” Iwaizumi isn’t making eye-contact, and even though his sentences are simple, they’re not making sense.

Again, there are so many things to unpack, so Oikawa takes his time, even though his brain is screeching like a derailed train. Staring with the assertion that he doesn’t love Iwaizumi – “you must be blind, I think.” He could _probably_ have phrased that better, but still.

Iwaizumi stiffens. “I’m being serious, Tooru. Won’t you consider it? I’m not - I know I’m not what you’re looking for in an Alpha, I’m not perfect, but isn’t what we have enough? I love you, you know? Isn’t that enough?”

Oikawa chokes on the sob that surprises even him, covers his mouth in an attempt to keep it in, and fails. He’s dreamt of so many confessions but none of them were like this, none of them ever so heart-breaking. “So am I, Hajime.” The use of his first name makes Iwaizumi freeze. “You must be blind if you think I don’t love you. Honestly, I don’t know where you get these ideas from. What do you mean you’re not what I’m looking for in an Alpha?!” He demands, and he can hear his own voice getting pitchier and more incredulous.

“I’m nothing special, Tooru. You love me but I’m _in_ love with you. I’ll spend my whole life with you as your platonic mate if you want me to, if you’ll only accept my confession.” This is Iwaizumi laying himself bare, lying down on the ground and waiting for Oikawa to step all over him. Oikawa’s eyes brim over and tears roll down his cheeks.

“ _Hajime_ ,” he says, imbuing the word with as much tenderness as he can, “I’ve been in love with you for years now, watching you flirt and be nice to other Omegas. I’ve been dreading the day that you find someone and leave me for so long. You’re the most important person in my life. I don’t know how you thought I – you are so blind, Hajime,” and by the time Oikawa gets to the end of it he’s sobbing, and he knows just how ugly he looks doing it but he can’t bring himself to care, not when Iwaizumi is stepping closer to him and putting his big hands on Oikawa’s shoulders and drawing him into a hug.

Oikawa is a shade taller than Iwaizumi so he can’t easily reach Iwaizumi’s throat, but he can put his nose near Iwaizumi’s ear, where his scent is strong and he’s warm and Oikawa can feel his heart beating. He turns his head so that his lips brush against the shell of Iwaizumi’s ear and he’s touched Iwa-chan so many times before, but never like this, never so intimately, it’s enough to make his knees weak.

Iwaizumi’s hands come to rest softly on his back and Oikawa returns the gesture, feeling warm skin beneath the thin t-shirt. It’s easy to pretend they’re not in a communal shower room. Unfortunately they are, and there’s a game to play tomorrow and there’s a team waiting for them outside. Hopefully not _just_ outside – a little further away – Oikawa really doesn’t want to find Makki and Mattsun with their ears pressed to the door, but he’s not optimistic.

Iwaizumi’s hands are firm but his voice is unsteady when he finally speaks, scant moments later. “I really hope this isn’t some sort of fever dream.” The words are said so softly that Oikawa isn’t sure he’s meant to have heard them, but he does, and he can’t let something so incredible pass.

“It’s definitely not a fever dream, Iwa-chan, though I’m flattered you think a confession from me is of that calibre.” He doesn’t let go of Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi’s voice when he next speaks is tremulous, like he’s trying to joke but can’t quite manage it. “Maybe this is a nightmare, then?”

Oikawa’s squeeze is reflexive. He knows Iwaizumi doesn’t mean it, but that doesn’t mean he likes the thought of it anyway. Iwaizumi’s hands automatically start smoothing long lines down his back, and he relaxes into the hold. “Sorry Tooru, that was a bad joke,” Iwaizumi apologises and Oikawa feels himself melt, his heartbeat slowing into a comfortably thrum. Iwaizumi inhales and his breath stutters a bit, and Oikawa knows he’s scenting Oikawa’s hormones thick in the air. His nose is pushed against Oikawa’s hair where it curls at the nape of his neck and Oikawa can’t help but leak indicators of happiness and peace and arousal.

Iwaizumi pushes him back a little but doesn’t lift his hands from the small of Oikawa’s back. “This is probably the wrong place to do this, no matter how much I want to.”

Oikawa nods, more in response to the tone of Iwaizumi’s voice than what he’s saying. The entire world has gone rosy-hazy-gold and Oikawa thinks he wants nothing more than to sink down to the ground and let Iwaizumi kiss him until he can’t remember his own name.

He’s totally not expecting it when Iwaizumi pinches him, making him squeal and jolt into alertness. The glow fades a little and he blushes to think that he was sinking into a rut so easily, right there in public. Iwaizumi’s hands soothe over his skin, his back, still in an embrace, refusing to let go, but not coming any closer. “Definitely not the right place, Tooru.”

“So, just to get this straight,” comes a third voice, making them both jump half-a-foot in the air. Oikawa doesn’t even have to look to know that where Makki goes, Mattsun follows – or vice versa. “Oikawa’s been in love with Iwaizumi, thinking that Iwaizumi wants a proper Omega, and Iwaizumi’s been in love with Oikawa, thinking that he wants a stronger? Alpha? Is that what’s been going on for the past few, I dunno, _years_?”

The incredulity in Makki’s voice is almost indistinguishable from his steadily increasing amusement, but Oikawa supposes it could have been worse. They could have been overheard by strangers, or even by people who wanted to hurt them. At least Makki and Mattsun would only tease them until the day they died.

Iwaizumi snarls at them but they ignore him with the ease of long practice. If they got offended every time Iwaizumi snarled at them, they’d have stopped being friends years ago.

“It’s like a soap-opera,” Mattsun comments, because of course he has to put in his two-cents worth. “Only without the cute actresses.”

Makki mockingly strokes his fingers down his imaginary beard like an evil villain, and smirks. “How much do you think we could sell this story for?” That’s enough for Iwaizumi to snap, lunging towards their friends. Oikawa’s quick enough to grab Iwaizumi’s shirt, but Makki and Mattsun scatter anyway, fleeing down the hallway, laughing in delight.

Iwaizumi doesn’t snarl at Oikawa – he’s hardwired against it – but he steps back into Oikawa’s arms and lets his scent rise into the air, mingling with Oikawa’s own in the steamy bathroom. Iwaizumi’s muscles unclench, but Oikawa doesn’t remember wrapping his hands around his biceps, doesn’t understand how they got so close together without him noticing. It feels like they’re both sinking into heat haze, and that’s just so typical that he has to laugh.

“Okay,” he says, “okay, this is not appropriate. Let’s get out of here. Some fresh air wouldn’t hurt.” Iwaizumi doesn’t say anything and doesn’t resist, but his eyes never leave Oikawa’s form, and he doesn’t let Oikawa get any further than two steps away from him. It should be stifling. Oikawa can’t get enough of it. He wants to be _adored_ by this man. He wants to be the thing around which Iwaizumi’s entire universe revolves, because it’s only fair, since Iwaizumi is the centre of _his_ world.

Iwaizumi dogs his steps as they walk out of the bathroom, until Oikawa turns and reaches out to take his hand. It’s warm and dry and rough. Iwaizumi walks beside him until they reach the Coach’s room.

It goes without saying that Oikawa can’t sleep with the rest of them tonight, not when his own hormones are so thick on his skin that the entire corridor seems perfumed. It’s super unromantic to have to knock on Coach’s door so late at night, but it’s almost worth it for the look on Coach’s face when he realises what has happened, and which of his players are standing outside his door, holding hands – _almost_.

“I suppose this was bound to happen eventually,” he says under his breath, which. Well. Oikawa supposes that’s as good a way to see it as any.

-

Ushiwaka steals his limelight, as always, by getting together with his No. 5 at about the same time as Oikawa gets together with Iwaizumi.

Apparently, _Iwaoi_ just isn’t as _big_ because everyone had thought they were already together, but no one had even realised that Ushijima is an Omega.

The thought of that still sends an unpleasant shiver down Oikawa’s spine, but he’s glad that everyone knows about Ushijima, now. He still regrets that he had assumed it too, thinking that no Omega could be as big, or as strong, or as good as Ushijima. It’s the same assumption he’d been fighting against himself, for years.

Anyway, he’s happy that Ushijima started courting his No. 5 – happy for his friend, though he’d never admit it.

“You don’t have to pretend to hate the guy forever, you know?” Iwaizumi says under his breath, leaning towards Oikawa but not turning his head to look at him. They’re surrounded by hundreds of other volleyball players in Tokyo, all gathered to watch the prefectural champions go head-to-head in the finals.

Oikawa doesn’t ask who Iwaizumi is talking about. “It’s not pretend. I legitimately, totally, genuinely and one-hundred-per-cent hate him. Not as much as I hate Kageyama, of course, but that’s also totally understandable, right?”

Iwaizumi turns to look at him then, and a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, pulling back to reveal pearly-white teeth. His eyes are bright, and there is nothing about his face that Oikawa doesn’t _adore_. “Of course, you’re not over-compensating at all,” he says lightly, not meaning a word of it.

The banter doesn’t bother Oikawa. Nothing has changed the fundamentals between them, at least. This is how they’ve always been, teasing and joking and _loving_. Only now, Iwaizumi’s fingers are tangled with his own and their thighs are pressed together, side-by-side. They’re sitting as close together as they can instead of having an empty seat between them. Oikawa is so familiar with the heat of Iwaizumi’s body beside his own that his life would be incomplete without it. He snuggles into it, and Iwa-chan just opens his arms and lets him.  

“I see that you have managed to break Oikawa of his lack of punctuality,” comes another voice, deeper, but also familiar. “It is a feat that I did not think possible.” This is as close to a compliment as Ushijima can get, so Oikawa isn’t actually offended – he only pretends to be. Ushijima sits down beside Oikawa, No. 5 on his other side.

“I was just about due for getting somewhere with at least one habit. It’s been a long time coming,” Iwaizumi replies with a smile which Ushijima doesn’t return, but that’s okay. Ushijima is more awkward than all of them put together – he can be forgiven for his lack of social skills.

As they settle back to watch the games – strangers playing against strangers from other prefectures, Oikawa can’t help but relax into Iwaizumi’s embrace. He’s not even sure when Iwa-chan got his arm around Oikawa’s back, but it must have been pretty smooth. It makes him smile a little.

“What are you smirking about?” Iwaizumi asks straight into his ear, voice low and warm, lips brushing against his hair. A shiver runs down Oikawa’s spine, and is trapped between them.

“Nothing, Iwa-chan. I’m just happy.” It’s a rare admission which makes Iwaizumi pull back and look at him carefully before smiling back.

“Me too, Tooru.”

**Author's Note:**

> *jazz hands* I still don't know what I'm doing, ya'll. Comments and Kudos give me life. 
> 
> The title of this fic comes from a song call 'Notice Me' by Alli Simpson, which is probably Oikawa's own personal sountrack/themesong. Listen to it with another song also called 'Notice Me' by Anya Marina and a third called 'Crave You' by the Flight Facilities, and you'll know what I had on loop in my head while writing this.


End file.
